One Body: Dispatches from Idaho

Northampton, MA – The Program for the Study of Women, Gender and Sexuality and the Smith Office for the Arts (SOFA) are excited to present One Body: Dispatches from Idaho written by Jimmy Maize, based on the work of Jen Jackson Quintano, on Friday and Saturday, September 18 and 19, at 7:30 p.m. in Hallie Flanagan Studio Theatre at Smith College.

The one-woman show, performed by Emily Donahoe, features true stories from Idaho women, doctors, politicians, and activists in an intimate exploration of the real-world repercussions of abortion bans in deeply conservative states. The play is co-directed by Maridee Slater and Jimmy Maize. Tickets are free at smitharts.ludus.com with reservations strongly encouraged.

One Body weaves narratives of pain, resilience, and hope into a cautionary tale of a bellwether state—and what it foreshadows for us all. In the wake of the Dobbs decision ending legal abortion in the U.S., Jen Jackson Quintano founded the Pro-Voice Project, an Idaho-based nonprofit using storytelling, cultural organizing, and community dialogue to advance reproductive justice in one of the nation’s most politically restrictive states. Her work spans documentary theater, film, writing workshops, and public conversation. Her mission with this work has been to eradicate the stigma and silence that shroud discussions of women’s bodies, their autonomy, and their worth.

“In a climate where policy debates erase people, One Body centers real stories—full of pain, power and complexity. It reminds us that behind every ban is a body. And within every body, a voice,” said Quintano.

Carrie Baker, the Sylvia Dlugasch Bauman Professor of American Studies and the Chair of the Program for the Study of Women, Gender and Sexuality, learned of the Pro-Voice Project in March 2025 when she gave a talk in Ketchum, Idaho while promoting her book Abortion Pills: U.S. History and Politics. After seeing the New York production of One Body, she decided to invite the production team to Smith College for a residency and two performances.

“One Body is about women finding their voices, coming together and fighting back against the harmful misogyny of abortion bans,” Baker explains. “At a time when men are attacking women’s rights at astounding speed, One Body’s message from a deep red state is a clarion call for hopeful resistance.”

Writer and co-director Jimmy Maize, has devoted most of his career to investigating real-life events for devised documentary theatre works. For One Body: Dispatches from Idaho, Maize weaves the narratives of people on the front lines of reproductive activism into a one-woman show portraying over 20 distinct characters. Maize’s longtime collaborator, Maridee Slater serves as co-director and co-producer of One Body. With this piece Slater continues her commitment to lived testimony as a force for empathy, resistance, and community. She is the producing program director at Youth Theatre Northwest in Washington state.

Bringing the play to life at Smith College is award-winning actor Emily Donahoe whose work spans off-Broadway, regional theatre, television, and film. Both performances of One Body will be followed by a conversation with the production team and Jen Jackson Quintano, who will be at Smith for a week-long residency visiting classes and meeting with students.

“I hope that audiences will see that abortion activism—or any social justice effort—is not the work of experts and professionals alone,” says Quintano. “We are all capable of telling, listening to, and amplifying the stories necessary for lasting cultural change. Narrative activism is powerful because it’s accessible. Stories aren’t beyond us. They’re within all of us.”

One Body: Dispatches from Idaho is sponsored by the Program for the Study of Women, Gender and Sexuality, the Smith Office for the Arts (SOFA), the Kixie Denison Fieldman ’53 Fund, and the Smith College Lecture Committee. Audiences should know that the play contains descriptions of abortion and sexual assault. Tickets are free at smitharts.ludus.com with reservations recommended.